Part 2 of the Homeschool Video Tour 2015-Geography Center

OK here is part two. It took so many takes to get one that was decent, I truly don't know why I thought this would be fun.  Sorry it gets kind of shakey/fast near the end but I am not redoing it.  Hope you enjoy it-LOL

Homeschool Video Tour 2015: Part Two-Geography Center

Finally-video tour of our classroom:Part 1 and Part 2: UPDATED

OK folks, be patient with me-as I am very new to this video/Youtube process (not viewing but actually you know-posting) so I only have the intro video done.  This took me countless hours because I redid the thing at least 20x and frankly had to finally go with this one because I was so exhausted.  So the detail look videos are gonna take some time.  Anyway, here is the basic overview.

Homeschool Room Tour 2015 video 1

UPDATE:  here is part two-the Geography Center!!!

Part 2 of the Homeschool Tour 2015-Geography Center

Geology Notebooking Ideas

We finally were able to start our Geology and Archaeology series.  Since we had such a late start-I decided to do the Geology first (it has less chapters) so we could finish by the end of this year.

I simply glued then taped (the cover is soft not the cardboard like other Mead Composition notebooks) the label to the front.  Then we started notebooking.  I find some of the material on the internet, or from a book or have him simply draw/write what is needed.

I am using the teacher's guide to simply see what their worksheets were asking the student to cover. I am not much into worksheets as much as I am lapbook components, small diagram pictures and such. I find my son actually becomes more engaged when I have him doing a lot of the work himself or by having him color/cut and place smaller snippets of data.

There is enough space to have him do both units so I will simply add a tab to the point of where the archaeology starts.

Being creative and finding different components does take time (lots of Pinterest and basic Googling) but the results are worth the effort.

Artist Study: Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh

image from Wikipedia

Books:

The coffee table book showcased a lot of different pictures
 you won't usually see in the children's editions.
BUT please preview-I saw a few nudes
in the ones I checked out from the library.

Book Ideas:

What Makes A Van Gogh A Van Go
Famous Artists: Van Gogh
Art Masters: Van Gogh
Vincent Van Gogh and the Colors of the Wind
Great Artists: Vincent van Gogh
Van Gogh and the Post-Impressionists for Kids
The Great Artists and their World: Van Gogh

Art Sticker Book (this is great for many periods and artists)

Picture Study Resources:

 Calendar purchased at book store

Art Calendar

Taking the calendar apart provided 12 great pictures for him to choose from.  

He now has 6 large pictures to study, which I laid out on the desk in front of his.
That way he is always looking at them.  Each week he will study one, 

then give me a narration of what it is on Friday. 

Dover art cards

Notebooking Pages:

Homeschool Helper Notebooking Page

Olga's Gallery

 images for page or to study

Art Project Helps:

image from See the Light website 

I was fortunate enough to have won the Art Projects Boxed Set from See The Light.  This awesome set contains DVDs that focus on 9 artists/styles. Sadly, I haven't had the chance to dig into these until now.  I pulled out the Van Gogh to start. I figured since my eldest daughter had given me a Van Gogh calendar last year (and we no longer needed it) the time was right to begin. [My pic is to the right. Frankly, I didn't like the oil pastels much.  Not exactly pleased with the results].

The required supplies include oil pastels (24 count) but I only had a 12 pack laying about and I didn't have to correct sized paper either.  No problem.  I made a list of items to pick up, but in the meantime, I had my son practice using these .  That way, when he started working on the actual project, he would be a bit more experience with them.

I had him draw two plastic pears first then I busied myself making lunch. When he came into the kitchen he had another paper done of a seascape.  I was impressed. When I told him to put it on the fridge, he was saying, "Look mom!"  His grandma had recently given us a Noah's Ark magnet. He strategically placed it on the ocean part of his picture which looks like it was meant to be there all along.

Finished Art Project:

Sunflowers

Main recommended supplies for this art lesson.
I set up our own sunflowers in a vase to help my student
get an up close visual for the project.
Plus, I can use them to decorate my home later :)

My son's sunflowers drawing.
 Enthusiasm for the lesson (esp. the oil pastels)
was not there for him,  but he is not our artsy kid
so I wasn't too surprised.
Also-many of the colors/layering in this lesson are
hard to decipher due to his color blindness.
But the overall piece is quite lovely.

Additional Helps:

Pinterest has lots of ideas/links

Continent Boxes: Asia

Asia is quite a big continent to cover.  Many countries are represented, so you could conceivably have a huge variety of goodies for your box.  I looked on Ebay and various other sites that sell more oriental type trinkets and such.  I could have bought a lot more but needed to watch the budget. Also, with his age and no other munchkins following his footsteps, it made little sense to go on a spending spree for items. My sister/brother-in-law spent ten + years in China so we have some nice items from there.  I don't have many post cards right now-which is fine. I could also add many more animals and would if I had younger kids. Because our lives have been upside down for several months, this is not high on my priority list.  

Contents for the Asia Box:

*These items were gifted to us by my hubby's sister:

*Stone, hand-carved stamp with the characters for my husband's name (with ink but I did NOT put that in there b/cuz that stuff is so stainy and messy!)  I took it's picture individually so you could see the detail. 

*Delicate bowl (probably for rice)

*Soapstone Elephant 

*Tigers (by Schleich.  Can be found in most stores where toys are sold.)

*Orangutan (no idea where or how this toy came about around here but we have it so I added it to the box)

*Russian Stacking Matryoshka dolls (Ebay)

*Chopsticks (local restaurant)

*Coin purse from Vietnam (gift)

*Japanese Samurai Doll (I think it was originally a necklace-where it came from?? No clue)

*Taj Mahal, Great Wall of China and the Buddha of Lantau (from the Safari Toob Around the World and World Landmarks sets)

*Asia Traditional Foods cards (Montessori Print Shop)

*Asia Animals and Landmarks cards (Target dollar section. I suggest looking during back to school time for these, or check Amazon/Ebay). The Montessori print shop also has cards for landmarks, musical instruments, animals, and more to purchase. There is a whole Asia set you can buy to make your life easier.

*Postcards -still need to add to this section 

*Stamps-for sorting in Montessori box (Ebay)

*Coins (some from Ebay, China coins/paper money were gifts)

Additional Items:

I have many books from the varying countries in our library book bin next to the Geography center.  I also put our Klutz Chinese Jump Rope book/rope (I see it as being available on Amazon thru some sellers, but there are nice rope substitutes for sale as well) into the basket on top of the center. Not sure if it is truly a 'Chinese' jump rope but hey-it's fun to do so I have it there. 

I included the Treasure Chests: Ancient China by Running Press we have too. This is a part of the older version of the Sonlight 5 history program.  I see a few are available on Amazon, you'll just have to do some searching to find one.  This has a fan, coins, ink and activities for the child to do. [images from Amazon.com]

We are putting flags onto our notebooking pages that we are doing for our Mapping the World by Heart program, so I do not have individual flags for the box. And because we really like Asian food-we have been frequenting our local Thai and Chinese restaurants.  I would love to find a Russian one but that may require quite a long drive.  My oldest daughter has friends from Pakistan and so we have had that type of food too (delish), so actually we are quite familiar with most of those foods.  

     

A Totally Real Post on Our Very Rough Beginning to the New Year

Right now, I can barely pen this.  I am doing my best to keep sane, not break down or forgo everything.  That said, I am trying to regain some sense of 'normal' around here, and one of those is to write a blog post or two.  I am working on our Asia Continent Box and the Van Gogh artist study one now, but need a few things to finish it before I can publish it. Hopefully, I can get those done soonish. 

For those who do not follow me on FB-earlier in Jan. my dear brother passed away. He was only 46. If it weren't for the strength of the Lord and all the prayer warriors out there, I doubt I would have been able to get through it.  It has been very hard for my parents, and especially for his two boys who are only 17 and 7. This is going to be a very long road for all of us. And if that was not enough to blow our lives out of the water, my husband's mother fell prior to our going out of the country in November (still want to blog about that) so since then we have been trying to help care for her as well. Since she is 81, her recovery has been slow. Even though (thankfully) she didn't break anything (her should took the brunt of it) she did damage the ligaments, and it took a huge emotional toll on her. She is looking into assisted living nearby but until then my hubby and his sisters have been sharing the responsibility to make sure she is OK. So then imagine being jet lagged and 6 hours off on time and being home only a few days prior to Thanksgiving. We saw my brother then, and knew it wasn't good. He was admitted to the hospital two weeks later. Then three terrible weeks crawled by, and let me tell you there was not much Christmas spirit around here. On Jan. 8th he passed away. It was the longest stretch of hell I have ever experienced. 

To add to this-a week prior to that, my friend's mother died. Then just as we were starting to regain some footing a local family lost their 4 yr old son suddenly (he had special needs but this was unexpected) which just breaks our hearts. A day later, my husband's good friend's dad suddenly died.  I say-ENOUGH!  This is just too much.  The sadness and loss is immense around here.  I forgot to add that my husband had some suspicious skin lesions removed.  During all of this chaos.  We found out just a week after the funeral that one was basal cell carcinoma.  So that means he will need to see a surgeon to get it completely removed, thankfully-the type of surgery he will receive is usually 99% successful in removing it.  That is coming up in March.
**Oh and while I type this, I am nursing a lovely mini-sprain I got today while leaving the library. I was just walking normal like and because the parking lot had grooves/crevices from age, it caught my left ankle...the very one I broke just a couple years ago.  I am praying it is just a few days of minor swelling and pain.  I can only laugh because otherwise I do believe I would start crying and never stop.  So much for a great beginning to the new year.  I pray the middle and end of it is awesome instead of crappy like these past few weeks. 

Schooling has been minimal but I have managed to get a few subjects taught per day.  I have difficulty keeping thoughts in my head longer than a few minutes. Did I mention that I really don't have a human child but an overgrown hummingbird for a kid?  He is a tough one to pin down.  But when I can, we cram in what we can before I get exhausted. Anyway-that is where we are at. Pretty much in survival mode.

Please keep us, my parents/2 other brothers, my nephews, my mother in law (Lu), my friend and her family (Nancy), the Kroll family (adopted, they are a Reece's Rainbow family) and our friend John and his family in your prayers.  We all desperately need them.  Thanks

Australian Art Project: Aboriginal Painting

To wrap up our study of Australia-we decided to do an Aboriginal painting using the dot technique.
This can easily be done on paper too, but I had a canvas frame sitting on the shelf and decided to use it.  I also bought marker paint pens thinking it would be easy and create a nice look. After seeing the inconsistency of it-I would have my student use a Q-tip or pencil end to create the dots instead.  It worked OK but I think the other tools would have helped him retain a more unilateral look. I helped with the painting of the non-dot areas (per his request) by simply putting some of the paint from the pen into a tray then applied it with a paint brush.

Regardless of the different ways to achieve it, he had fun and that was the overall goal.

Aboriginal Art Project: 

 Items Used:

*Canvas (purchased at Michaels using coupon)

*Marker Paint Pens (purchased at Wal-Mart)

*Pencil for tracing image

*Paint brush/tray (not pictured) 

*Picture (from Bisbane Kids site)

Basically, he chose what image he wanted. I traced the outline in pencil on the back side of the picture, then flipped it over and re-traced the image onto the canvas.  It worked enough so that I was able to see the basic layout. I took the black paint and outlined it for him.  I almost used a Sharpie but he wanted the paint which was a bit sloppy but it worked.  The goal here was to have fun-not create a masterpiece. He painted some areas, then set it aside to dry overnight (between applications) to keep it from smearing.  I painted the sections he wanted a solid color. We are allowing it to fully dry before we proudly display it in our classroom.  

Again-this could be done on paper as well.  There are a few videos online you can watch for technique and guidance too.  Don't forget to search Pintrest for ideas and different art projects using the Aboriginal dot paint style...there are lots of them!

Continent Box: Antarctica

At first, some may think that there are not enough things available to create an Antarctica box. Don't let the seemingly sparse items deter you.  Actually there are some unique and fun goodies you could add to your box.

Now granted there are no countries there, but many have staked claims to parts of it. That opens up a great opportunity to learn about those research posts. Maybe having printed cards with pictures of various sites can be added.  Also, you can find a lot about those brave explorers who went there. Maybe you could find stamps with pics of them, or put a small flip book/lapbook in the box highlighting them.

The wildlife is mostly centered around the oceanic critters, but it is also where many of the world's penguin species are found.  Think of all those movies [March of the Penguins comes to mind] that could accompany this study!  So one can add pictures and miniature toy animals to the box. I looked through my Safari Toobs and see there are a few seals and sea lions and even a walrus.  Sadly, not one of those species are found in Antarctica, and I do not want to buy the penguin one (which has a lot of them found there), so I won't have as many critters as I would like. That said, I do want to mention that I have noticed a few folks who have innocently placed polar bears in the Antarctica box. But please do not put them in as they are not found there.  They live in the arctic polar regions of the north and should go in the N. America box, and yes-even in the Europe and Asia ones.  I have seen way too many people add animals when they do not belong there.  OK. There, I feel better.

Contents for the Antarctica Box

*Stamps (Ebay) -I looked for countries that have or have had stations there.  

*Postcards (Ebay) 

*Fire/Rescue patch (Ebay) -I let my son pick which one he wanted.  

*Animal Cards (Target dollar bin area) -see the Australia post for a pic of the card box. I also just laminated a picture from an encyclopedia on the animals found there.

*Antarctica Territories Cards (made myself using Word images and Wikipedia then laminated them and put each area on color coordinating paper to match the control card).

*Landmark cards-just found a couple different ones online, printed and laminated them.

*Animals (Safari Toobs:  Baby Sea Life and Oceans. Purchased at JoAnns using 40-50% off coupons)

*Large Killer Whale-that is an old tub toy we had still.  He has been sitting by the Ocean Box we are working on for his science.  He doesn't go in the box, he just wanted to be included-LOL.

*Antarctica Game (free download from Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop)  This is too big for the box so it goes in the basket on the top shelf.

**I don't have the Antarctica map printed/laminated yet.  That is for his reference for various mapping activities and such. That will go into the basket on the top shelf.

Additional Ideas for your box:

I have done a lot of Pinteresting and have seen many a posts on continent boxes.  I see some ladies have mentioned a few of the following sites listed below.  I  really don't need these but many of you may.  Keep your eyes open for other neat add ins.  I would love to find a mini-replica of Shackleton's ship or even a model of a scientific center [you know that doesn't cost a fortune and actually exists] to add to our box. Anyway, check out these resources too.

Who's Eating Who? book download (free)  There is also a bunch of other activities/info on that site (which we will visit a lot during our study) **Just keep in mind the cost of either printing this at home or thru an office supply place. It is very colorful!

Montessori Print Shop-Antarctica materials

Antarctica Transportation download

You can purchase Antarctica bank notes (Ebay) too-I believe it is issued by different countries


And there you have our Antarctica box.